There's a lot of
things I could be writing right now.
I started writing a
post. Actually I full-on finished a
post. But it's a bit too much and a bit too raw to publish. So we'll skip that for now.
Instead, here's a few things in no particular order that have authentically and genuinely excited me or reached down deep in me in some way. I'm back to lists,
folks, and I won't apologize.
I got to help a dear friend surprise another dear friend with her arrival. There's nothing like truly surprising someone and seeing them scream and jump up and down.
My little brother played at the Hard Rock Cafe on Beale St. in Memphis, TN for his friend Apollo Mighty. He's to the left, the bearded one wearing the vest with the guitar. *big sister freak out time*
Via Apollo Mighty
I ordered 5 pairs of Warby Parker glasses for their home try-on. I'll pick my favorite pair and once I buy them Warby Parker will send a pair of glasses to someone in need. iamsoexcited.
Nickel Creek is returning. Enough said.
In 8 days I will be 20 years old. Just let that sink in. You don't understand my excitement.
Thoughts and images of summer. My vitamin D is lacking and I need to see the sun.
One of my best friends sent me a simple black cord necklace with a tiny pendent that says "love" and I haven't taken it off. She also sent me tea. She loves me.
John Mark McMillan
"Future / Past"
"The constellations are swimming inside
The breadth of your desire Where could I run, where could I hide from your heart's jealous fire"
Also check out his song "Love at the End."
"The Thing About Being a Poinsettia" by Sarah Thebarge. I got a poinsettia tattooed on my right shoulder in December and little did I know how much it would mean to me. I knew the legend and what it meant, how God takes the little things and transforms them into beauty. But this means something so different and something so much more and I am so, so thankful.
Thank you for reading. Blog post ideas are welcome. :)
I found a book at my hometown's library the other day. The book is called 7.
Well. The full title
is, 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess by
Jen Hatmaker, a pastor's wife and church planter who lives in Austin, Texas.
The basic premise
reads as this: she, her husband, occasionally their three children, and a small group of her friends she dubbed
as "The Council" chose seven areas of excess and created some sort of
fast for each for one month. The seven
topics were food, clothes, possessions, media, waste, spending, and stress. I'm
only in the middle of the third month right now. The book reads like a diary,
she wrote every other day or so about how the fasts were going and what she was
learning.
For lack of better
words, she's an extroverted hoot. I probably wouldn't be able to handle her.
Actually, because she has a fantastic sense of humor she probably wouldn't be
able to handle me because I'd be laughing the whole time she'd be talking.
But, this lady is so
very sincere. She loves so very fiercely. She knows her stuff but isn't afraid
to admit she's wrong or messed up.
Jen Hatmaker is
reminding me about crazy passionate people. Unapologetically passionate about something of God so much you talk about it all
the time even if you annoy your family and friends. So passionate you do
everything you can in the name of that something.
//
While I was reading, I realized something. I used to be
like that.
Call it childish
naivety, but I was going to change the world.
Eventually, I got so
tired of being alone in that passion. I was tired of no one caring. Because in
all seriousness, most people don't give a damn about anything. We're scared, we
think it's not cool, and who would look out for number one if we're helping
others? I got jaded in my isolation and in the environment I was in.
Today when people
say things like I used to, I inwardly shake my head and cynically think
"been there, done that, good luck with that."
//
The more I think
about it, the more I realize why Jesus said “Let the children come to me….
[T]he Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children."
Don't you love/hate
it when kids get super excited over stuff and won't shut up about it? Well, I'm
pretty sure that's what Jesus meant. Passion.
In the movie
"Amazing Grace" the character William Pitt, eventual British Prime Minister and
friend of William Wilberforce stated that "...we're too young to realize
that certain things are impossible!"
Children are foolish
enough to do things that adults think they're too cool for or have too much
responsibility for.
For the past year or
two, I've been frightened of anybody mentioning radical love and radical action.
Because I used to be excited and ready to do those things. Now all I worry
about is if I'll have enough money or if I'll have to make awkward conversation
or get to know people I don't particularly want to get to know. I made a bubble that I
can stretch but never, never break. Because it would cost me my selfish
comfort. I carry around "irresponsible responsibility" as Mark
Batterson called it in his book Wild Goose
Chase. "Responsibility" that we use as an excuse to not do the right thing.
//
Last night I went to
a meeting for an organization on campus that promotes awareness about human
trafficking. My new friends there talked about boycotting chocolate, buying
fair trade t-shirts to sell for fundraising, and making big
plans for awareness projects. These were things I used to do things about,
believe in, and dream about. These were things I had more or less given up. Yet, He's brought be back.
This post did not go as planned. But it turned into what it has, because God is ever so slowly turning me step by step back to His call. His call of justice, of changing the world, of
caring for the issues and people He so dearly loves, of working and dreaming
big dreams of His kingdom. Doing hard things that don't always turn out the way
you think they should. Failing. Being in awkward situations. Giving up stuff.
Picking up a cross.
I think He's bringing me back 'round to His radical love, and I am so, so ready to dream again.
In desperation to
write a blog a week, I found myself Googling. (Or Binging, I did use Bing.) You
may call it "lazy," but I call it "humanity pooling our
resources." In the words of Lorde's latest hit: So there.
I found myself on
the blog of Mary Demuth (one of those Christian authors I was pretty sure I'd
heard of before) and she offered one of the best posts on blog idea posts I've
ever seen.
Number 7 on her list
was "write ten things folks don't know about you." Again, sounds
lazy, but I have 8 chapters worth of reading to do this weekend so here we are.
Important things. Via flickr.
In rare moments (usually
during a full moon) I can be talkative. Shocker I know, but it happens.
After I regretfully spill my guts I go back to my mind-dweller self.
I still don't like my
university that much. Or the concept of college in general. But I need to
learn the skills and earn a degree to actually work as a Dietitian. So I'm
toughing it out. I'll need to get my Master's at some point, but I'll at
least have a big girl job by that point and can have a real life. Because
college is not real life. Don't fool yourself.
I'm in love with any sport or
activity that involves boards. Skateboarding, surfing, snowboarding,
longboarding, you name it. I love it. One day I might actually learn how
to do one or two (or all?!) of these.
I am terrible at answering
texts. Just ask my best friends. It may be because I dislike text
conversations and their awkward endings. But even texts that require a
simple response I won't reply to. I am attempting to get better at that.
I live in the South, but strong Southern accents tend to drive me up the wall. For some odd reason they really stand out to me, but if I know the person I usually get used to it. I'm trying to teach myself to look/listen past the accent and love
the person but it's a challenge.
I love, love, love learning
about people. If I could, I would sit all my friends and acquaintances
down and have them tell me about themselves and answer all my questions
about them. I believe that being honest and being our true selves around
people is one of most beautiful things in the world, and I live for those
moments.
I use commas too often. I'm
an advocate of the Oxford comma (see below example), but I simply use them
too much probably because I like to use interjections in my writing and
commas seem like the best way to do that. I also use parentheses like
nobody's business. Editing my blog posts consist of removing commas and
parentheses.
***OXFORD
COMMA EDUCATION***
Without
oxford comma: I wrote letters to my parents,
John Green and J.K. Rowling.
With
oxford comma: I wrote letters to my parents,
John Green, and J.K. Rowling.
See,
kiddos? Without the oxford comma, we assume John Green and J.K. Rowling are my
parents. With it, we realize that I am writing letters to my parents and two
authors. All objections are invalid.
I occasionally write text
messages with long words while unconsciously using the syntax used by a
member of the Crawley family in Downton Abbey. Because I'm a nerd. I also
like to pretend my car is a mini cooper. Apparently I'm delusional in all
aspects of life.
A dream of mine is to live in a tiny house. Like these. I'd probably build/buy a movable one and plop it down whenever I'd have to move. I enjoy simple living, and an even simpler house is a challenge I've wanted to live out for a long time. I have an entire pinterest board dedicated to tiny homes.
When ever I meet, pass, or observe a person, I always, always, always look at their shoes first. This makes it difficult for me to pick out shoes to wear (even though my own shoe collection is pretty simple), because I so whole-heartedly believe that shoes say a lot about a person. I would pass up a good-looking man proclaiming his undying love for me if he was wearing the wrong shoes.
Viola! Hopefully you learned 10+ new things today, including the necessity of Oxford commas.
